


Summer Vacation

by Zoya1416



Series: THE PATRICIAN'S BABY [9]
Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Summer Vacation, Very Bored, very small slash-if-you-look senior V/V
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-14
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-02-04 15:52:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1784680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya1416/pseuds/Zoya1416
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Sam is 14. Robbie Vetinari is 13. It's summer and they're bored. Very bored.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Vacation

Vimes and Vetinari were having an unusual meeting at Ramkin Manor. It was summer, but cool in the deep walls of the house. A kitchen maid brought in lemonade. Sybil had broached the idea that Sammie and Robbie go somewhere for summer vacation. Somewhere far away from Ankh- Morpork. At fourteen and thirteen years of age, they'd sampled most of the pleasures Ankh-Morpork could offer boys their ages. Everything was boring to them. They seemed to get into trouble everywhere.

“They heckled courting couples at Hide Park and threw gravel at ships passing under Misbegot bridge,” said Vimes. "And Sammie taunted Robbie about Misbegot—I had to paddle him hard for it.”

“Yes. He wasn't the first. He's finished two years at the Guild school.”

“Robbie got them sneaking into the Opera house looking for the actresses' dressing rooms.”

"Yes. Then they tried to fight with dwarf battle bread. I've never seen Carrot angry before. HE paddled them."

They shared a tiny smirk. The breeze had stopped blowing. Vetinari hadn't changed out of his dark suit, and Sam was viciously glad he was hot.

“They carved their initials on a palace column AND set fire to the dragon pens on the same day."

They both winced.

“I've had a clerk follow them.” (a dark clerk, Sam thought.)

"Willikin's understudy. He was a Shamlegger Street Rude Boy, too.”

It seemed hopeless, if even an ex-gang member couldn't control them.

Today was the worst. Angua had found them on Treacle Mine Road. They said they really weren't going into the Shades, but she doubted that.

She'd marched them to Ramkin Manor and left them to their fates.

It was at that interlude that Vimes and Vetinari were acknowledging defeat.

“My aunt used to say she was going to put me in a barrel and not take me out until I was twenty-one,” said Vetinari, wincing at the lemonade. Sam enjoyed the bite of the bitter drink and had it made with very little sugar.

“My mother used to say she was going to sell me to a ship.”

“I wish we could send them away with someone capable to look over them."

Beatings, scoldings, apologizing, repairing broken things, being kept in their rooms doing schoolwork—nothing seemed to work.

Vetinari said suddenly, “Aunt Roberta. They could go to Quirm with her. She owns several houses there, and she always needs work on them. Scraping paint, weeding the gardens. She has the most humourless caretakers I've seen.”

“Do you think it will work?”

"It worked for me,” said the Patrician with a tiny quirk of his lips. “When she lets them off the grounds, they can be accompanied to the beach. Plenty to visit on the pier, besides swimming.”

“Sounds like a good idea, but Sammie can't swim.”

Robbie spoke up from the recesses of the couch. The boys had come in silently, in search of cookies, and were now lurking.

“I'll teach him!”

“You don't have a pool, idiot!”

“Yes we do. My dad put in a pool where one of the dungeons was.”

He whispered something to Sammie, who exclaimed, “ Really? In the nude?”

Not a move, not an expression changed, but the Patrician—his ears were red.

The two terrors had fallen to fighting and insults, and Sammie's voice carried—“Well, your dad can get stuffed.”

“Yeah?” came Robbie, in a suddenly deeper voice, exactly like Vetinari's. “Well, I hear YOUR dad likes it that way.”

Not a move, not an expression—but Sam knew his own ears had flushed.


End file.
